The CEO’s Guide To Accounting App Advisory Services

As the accounting industry continues to innovate and evolve with technological advancements, savvy accountants are leveraging numerous business opportunities, including app advisory, to increase the value they bring to each of their clients. This approach, known as advisory accounting, moves accountants beyond a compliance-focused role to an advisory one.

Rather than centering their services around tax returns and similar deliverables, advisory accountants blend business strategy with accounting tasks, so clients receive financially sound advice that guides their companies toward success.

One service that has arisen as a subset of a broader advisory focus is app advisory services. In this article, we’ll define app advisory services, explain the tangible benefits for businesses, and offer resources for you to learn more.

What are app advisory services?

Before we dive into the details, let’s define what app advisory services are and why they’re so critical for modern business owners.

In simple terms, app advisory services offer direction and clarity on which apps and integrations you need to efficiently run your business.

Liz Scott, accountant and co-host of “The Appy Hour” podcast, explains app advisory by likening a business to a phone. You need to add apps to make it work how you want. Similarly, you need to build a tech stack for your business that helps you get things done.

What are the benefits of app advisory services for business owners?

Research shows that outdated or slow business tools can cost up to 24 days per year in wasted time. And, while many apps promise to save time and delight us beyond words, the fact remains that we’re less productive than ever before.

The remedy to productivity isn’t to add more tools and apps to your business. Rather, you should carefully integrate apps that directly serve business needs. With app advisory services, a consultant can analyze your business processes, determine bottlenecks or redundancies, and recommend apps to make your processes more efficient.

Leverage the right technology

Abraham Maslow famously said, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” When it comes to apps and business tools, that can certainly be the case. Many times, business owners will attempt to save money and time by piecing together a solution using inappropriate tools.

However, this ultimately reduces efficiency and can actually drive up costs related to the time spent fixing errors or doing things over again. Using app advisory services, business owners are guided through discovering, selecting, and implementing the apps that make their business better, not bloated.

Reclaim time for more valuable activities

Balancing work and life isn’t just a concern for upper management anymore. Approximately 60% of American workers feel that there are no boundaries between their home and work life. Additionally, many workers feel overworked, which comes from having a bulging to-do list each day.

Reconsidering your company’s apps and automating routine tasks can relieve some of the pressure and decrease the number of low-value tasks on your plate each day.

Unlock growth opportunities

When you’re working efficiently and spending your time on the tasks that are best suited to your talents, you’ll have time to spot opportunities within your business. When you have clarity regarding your company’s processes and the apps you use to fulfill them, you’ll be able to spot ways to improve your business further.

Originally published at https://mbsaccountancy.com.